Estratégias de retenção de clientes em academias de fitness da cidade de Curitiba/PR

Abstract

The growth of the fitness market, in general, comes to bring a new consumer profile, more demanding, and consequently generates the need for efficient and assertive strategies for companies in this segment to survive in the face of great competition. Fitness clubs represent a large part of this marketing niche and constantly invest in attracting new customers to maintain satisfactory numbers and meet the expectations of their owners and managers. However, it should be considered that the retention of customers already enrolled has undeniable relevance for the maintenance of the business and requires strategies in the same dimension as the capture of new customers. The purpose of this study was to investigate which customer retention strategies are used in the fitness centers of Curitiba/PR, considering the quality of the structure offered and the quality of services. It is a cross-sectional, qualitative, descriptive study. To answer the research objectives, we conducted semi-structured interviews with the managers of 4 small and mediumsized Curitiba fitness clubs, whose answers were transcribed and submitted to the content analysis technique. The lack of training of managers in the area of administration and management entails a lack of specific knowledge for the effective use of customer retention strategies, as well as the lack of quality and customer satisfaction surveys leave a gap between what can really be important to customers and attributes that managers consider relevant and in which they invest. Knowing the desires, needs and expectations of customers can be the most important factor in devising assertive strategies and fast answers in the race against the dissatisfaction and abandonment of fitness club customers.